(READ THIS FIRST: THIS IS THE AWARD FOR PLAYERS OF THE FRIENDLY WORLD CUP ONLY AND DOES NOT INCLUDE PEOPLE FROM FFS EURO 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE HAS BEEN A SEPARATE AWARD FOR THAT. THANK YOU.)

What a kick off to the tournament! We have been treated to some decent football and some brave selections that would make Doosra himself proud. While a few didn’t quite come off, there were enough successes to highlight the importance of being different. This award, however, is only deserved by the bravest of the brave, the noblest of the noble and, quite possibly, the craziest of the crazy.

A “successful gamble” is defined as a single player choice that returns an unexpectedly high number of points. The awards will be given on these criteria:- Underappreciation- Overachievement- Underdog team- CaptaincyHonourable Mentions- A couple of decisions which were worthy of note if not the award:

-Wazzagoal, Teddy, Goldsternmr, and Catmac. took a gamble on Danish keeper Anderson and it paid off handsomely with a cleansheet, 6 saves and an 8 point haul-ILA, Aatish and JKisthe1′s selections of Lescott in the face of an imposing French attack were courageous and also rewarded by his powerful header into the French net

And now for the winner:

Ladies and gentlemen, please offer your congratulations to JKisthe1. His truly valorous pick of Krohn-Dehli has been the frontrunner for this award since the Dane’s shot went through Stekelenberg’s legs and into the net on Saturday evening and nothing was able to overtake it, with a couple of JK’s other attemps being among the closest.

And now leaving Matchday 1 behind with mostly fond memories, Matchday 2 approaches with plenty of opportunities to make an unforgettable, unique and brave selection that could earn you an Order of Extreme Valour Award.